Implementing a program like this is actually easier than you might think. The cost is minimal while the rewards are immeasurable.

Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) November 19, 2014

Local Cleveland business, Embrace Pet Insurance, has taken community involvement to the next level with their latest outreach effort. Step into one of their conference rooms and you’ll find that homeless cats and kittens are now being fostered at Embrace’s headquarters on Richmond Rd.

“We are so incredibly thankful to have the office space available to do this,” said Kate Zirkle, Marketing Services Manager and Foster Program Lead for Embrace. “This is an amazing way to uphold our Core Values while also enriching the lives of staff and cats alike.”

Embrace’s Cleveland headquarters consists of 50+ animal-loving employees, many of which have said, “I wish I could foster.” This new program makes that possible without fully taking on the responsibility alone.

Embrace encourages more businesses to consider opening their doors to homeless pets. According to Kate Zirkle, “Implementing a program like this is actually easier than you might think. The cost is minimal while the rewards are immeasurable.”

Embrace Pet Insurance is a member of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) and a proud winner of Cleveland.com’s Northeast Ohio Top Workplaces for 2014.

Embrace’s Co-Founder and CEO, Laura Bennett, believes that “this is another great example of an employee-driven program that helps make Embrace a fantastic place to work.” And with a cat snoozing in your lap while you work, it’s hard to argue with that statement.

About Embrace Pet Insurance

Embrace Pet Insurance is an Ohio-based pet health insurance provider, offering comprehensive, personalized insurance products for dogs and cats across the US. Embrace is consistently ranked as one of the highest-rated US pet insurance companies and is a proud member of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Embrace is the only company to offer a diminishing deductible feature, the Healthy Pet DeductibleTM, and continues to innovate and improve the pet insurance experience for pet parents across the country.

About NAPHIA

Founded in 2007, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) is comprised of experienced and reputable pet health insurance companies and pet health professionals whom are committed to advancing and growing the industry. NAPHIA fosters high standards for the industry on service, coverage and transparency; is a central resource for the gathering, analysis and reporting of information on pet health insurance; and supports responsible pet ownership through the promotion of a broad spectrum of pet health insurance coverage options. NAPHIA’s Membership collectively represents 95% of the pet insurance market, and provides coverage to more than 1 million pets across North America.

Pet Wireless, the team behind Tailio, the world’s first mobile app and Wi-Fi enabled device that turns a cat’s litter box into a smart monitoring system, are thrilled to announce that they have doubled their Kickstarter goal, raising $60k in just 4 days. Pet Wireless reached their funding goal of $30k in only eight hours.

Tailio has resonated with cat lovers around the globe, keen to get their paws on the latest in pet health monitoring technology. The device sits neatly under a cat’s litter box, and allows an owner to receive alerts and information on their cat’s well-being via a smartphone app. Its unique, non-invasive design allows the owner access to their cat’s details without discomfort to the cat, or requiring the cat to keep still for weighing. The monitoring process is natural and unobtrusive and enables pet families to stay closer to their cats from anywhere.

“We are profoundly grateful for the wonderful Kickstarter community for allowing Tailio to achieve funding in such a short space of time,” said Pet Wireless founder Alex Treiner. “We want to give back to the community, so today we’re announcing new funding stretch goals that will enable us to enhance Tailio with additional options and features if reached by the end of our campaign.”

The stretch goals for Tailio are set at $100k and $150k, and promise more color options for the device, and a new feature in the mobile app. The Tailio device is currently slated to ship in a neutral white color, but upon reaching $150k in funding, the device will also be made available in additional colors that the Kickstarter community will help select. In addition, backers will receive a new feature in the mobile app that enables them to find local veterinary services based on their location if the project hits $150k.

“When a health issue arises, getting your cat proper medical care as soon as possible is critical to the outcome,” said Dr. Mark Goldstein, DVM and former President of the San Diego Human Society. “A common urgent care crisis for cats is an urinary blockage, which can become life threatening in males in just 24-48 hours. Tailio will not only help owners to detect early signs of health issues such as feline lower urinary tract disease, but with the new feature to find local vet services, will also help owners quickly know where to take their cat for medical care.”

Tailio collects data on a cat’s litter box visits and behavior, their weight and waste, and creates a ‘Pawprint’, an individual profile of physiology and behavior that is unique to each cat, even in multiple cat homes. The Pawprint serves as a baseline for Tailio, so it can analyze regular patterns and notify owners if something is out of the ordinary. Pet Wireless worked with veterinarians to create a solution that would enable cat owners to be made aware of early signs of health issues and help with the care of their cats.

Treiner also commented, “As someone who learned of their cat’s illness too late, it’s comforting to know that others recognize the importance of being able to identify problems with their pet early on. The response to Tailio has been amazing, and being able to bring a product to market that we know will be of great benefit to pet families is a wonderful feeling, and we hope this news will continue to be shared among friends and family!”

Tailio is still available to back on Kickstarter, with early bird pledge levels starting at $99.

Pet Wireless is a start-up based in San Diego, CA. Dedicated to using technology to improve the lives of pets and their families, Pet Wireless develops pet health monitoring solutions that enable pet owners to make informed decisions about their pets’ care.

Dear Porky and Buddy,Here it is November with snow and a smallish cat just showed up on my back porch a few days ago.

I think she is sheltering under the porch, but when I go out to try to approach her and coax her inside she takes off into the woods and I don’t see her again for hours.

I have been leaving food and water for her and it is gone every morning. I would let her in and take care of her in a heartbeat, (like my other three cats), but I am afraid she is feral and will never come in. How can I help her survive outside in this weather?KarenP.S. Her name is Sparky

Dear Karen,During the Great Depression, hobos would draw a picture of a cat near a house where a kind-hearted woman lived who would give them food.

Nowadays, there are some homes that have a sign on the roof that says, “Stop by here for help.”

The signs are invisible to humans but it seems that homeless pets can see them clearly.

So thanks for having that sign installed.

Now that it’s there you have three issues.

First, you need to figure out a way for Sparky to have adequate shelter if, in fact, she remains outside all winter.

Under your porch is a great start but not enough.

Is there room there to put a small dog house with straw inside and insulation all around it?

Use straw, not hay, and no blankets or anything that will not stay dry.

The opening should be just barely enough to let her get inside and turned away from prevailing winds.

Preferably there should also be a small escape hole somewhere so it doesn’t feel or act like a trap.

If that won’t work there are lots of online directions for outdoor shelters for feral cats.

You can find some at www.alleycat.org

With the shelter problem solved, you now have the health issues.

Talk to your vet to see if she will allow you to try to trap Sparky and bring her/him in to be neutered and for a basic health check and vaccinations.

If that won’t work, call the Humane Society for help and suggestions.

You don’t want little Sparky (assuming she is a female) to go into heat and get pregnant.

Nor do you want him/her to be around your cats, if they go outside, if he/she has any infectious diseases.

Finally, remember that the fact that Sparky runs from you does not mean she is necessarily feral, i.e. a cat who has never been around humans.

She may just be scared, and rightfully so if she was abandoned somewhere and has been trying to survive on her own.

There are relatively few truly feral cats, but many terrified homeless ones.

So get her some shelter, keep putting food and water out (but bring it in at night so you don’t attract unwanted wildlife), do your best to deal with health and neutering concerns, and let her continue to see you being her benefactor.

Some day, there is a chance that she will suddenly decide to stroll right into your house, but only after she trusts that you are sufficiently tame!

Speaking of houses, the Oswego County Humane Society is moving just down the street.

Our office and clinic will now be located at 110 W. Second St., Oswego, NY.

Phone: (315) 207-1070.

Email: ochscontact@hotmail.com

Website: www.oswegohumane.org

The Oswego County Humane Society provides spay/neuter services and assistance, fostering and adoption of animals in urgent need, humane education programs, and information and referrals to animal lovers throughout Oswego County.

A woman in the Netherlands contracted an unusual bacterial infection that may have come from one of her pet cats, according to a new report of her case.

After a weeklong fever, the 46-year-old woman went to the hospital and told doctors she was tired, and was having night sweats and pain in her upper right abdomen — symptoms that were “all very vague,” said Dr. Marloes van Ierland-van Leeuwen, a gastroenterologist at Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis hospital in Amsterdam.

An ultrasound and a CT scan revealed cause for concern: the woman had large nodules around her pancreas and near the top part of her small intestine, called the duodenum. She also had other abnormalities, called lesions, throughout her body, according to the case report published Oct. 29 in the journal BMJ Case Reports. [16 Oddest Medical Cases]

“There were so many lesions,” he told Live Science. “We were really worried at the start.”

But a biopsy of one of the nodules in the intestine showed not cancer, but rather an infectious disease. “So our search was to find out what it was,” Van Ierland-van Leeuwen said.

Cat scratch disease

The doctors ran several tests, but they couldn’t find any bacteria, fungi or common viruses in the woman’s tissue samples.

Finally, blood work suggested the woman was infected with bacteria from the genus Bartonella. One species of the bacteria, Bartonella henselae,can lead to a condition called cat scratch disease. Also known as cat scratch fever, the illness can cause swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, fatigue and poor appetite, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

People can get cat scratch disease from house cats, about 35 percent of which carry the bacteria that cause it, said Dr. Greg Nelson, a veterinarian with Central Veterinary Associates, in Valley Stream, New York, who was not involved in treating the woman.

“[But] It doesn’t really occur all that often,” Nelson said. “There isn’t a lot of transmission from cats to their owners.”

Cats typically get the bacteria as kittens from fleas, or from other infected cats. When a kitten scratches or bites at the fleas on its skin, the flea droppings can get in their teeth or claws. Cats can then transmit the bacteria if they then bite or scratch a person, or lick an open cut on a person’s skin, Nelson said.

In people with compromised immune systems, including children and the elderly, cat scratch fever can lead to painful and serious complications, such as warty lesions on the skin, as well as lesions in the liver or spleen.

The bacterial infection is usually seen at the location of the cat bite or scratch, but infection can also spread to other sites in the body, said Dr. Lucy Tompkins, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Stanford Medicine and the medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at Stanford Health Care in California, who was not involved in the study.

But in the woman’s case, whether her cats actually caused her infection remains unclear, the researchers said. The woman didn’t remember getting scratched or bitten by her two pet cats, whereas she did remember that a young dog had bitten her leg about two weeks before her symptoms began, Van Ierland-van Leeuwen said.

It’s possible that the woman had Bartonella henselae, or cat scratch disease, Van Ierland-van Leeuwen said. However, DNA testing for Bartonella henselae in a sample of the woman’s duodenum came up negative, the study found. [Tiny & Nasty: Images of Things That Make Us Sick]

The doctors gave her antibiotics for five days, and in four months the woman’s health had returned to normal.

In most cases, cat scratch disease goes away on its own, without the use of antibiotics, Nelson said.

Neither the cats nor the dog were tested for Bartonella henselae. There have been a few reports of dogs carrying Bartonella henselae, but typically cats are the main host, Nelson said.

Tomkins agreed that the cats were not clearly the cause of the woman’s infection. “I would have called it a probable case,” Tompkins said.

Getting cat scratch disease from a pet is uncommon, Nelson said. People should be careful to keep their cats flea-free, and clean any cat bites or scratches with soap and water. A cat that has a tendency to scratch or play roughly should not be near immune-compromised people, he said.

A woman in the Netherlands contracted an unusual bacterial infection that may have come from one of her pet cats, according to a new report of her case.

After a weeklong fever, the 46-year-old woman went to the hospital and told doctors she was tired, and was having night sweats and pain in her upper right abdomen — symptoms that were “all very vague,” said Dr. Marloes van Ierland-van Leeuwen, a gastroenterologist at Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis hospital in Amsterdam.

An ultrasound and a CT scan revealed cause for concern: the woman had large nodules around her pancreas and near the top part of her small intestine, called the duodenum. She also had other abnormalities, called lesions, throughout her body, according to the case report published Oct. 29 in the journal BMJ Case Reports. [16 Oddest Medical Cases]

“There were so many lesions,” he told Live Science. “We were really worried at the start.”

But a biopsy of one of the nodules in the intestine showed not cancer, but rather an infectious disease. “So our search was to find out what it was,” Van Ierland-van Leeuwen said.

Cat scratch disease

The doctors ran several tests, but they couldn’t find any bacteria, fungi or common viruses in the woman’s tissue samples.

Finally, blood work suggested the woman was infected with bacteria from the genus Bartonella. One species of the bacteria, Bartonella henselae,can lead to a condition called cat scratch disease. Also known as cat scratch fever, the illness can cause swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, fatigue and poor appetite, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

People can get cat scratch disease from house cats, about 35 percent of which carry the bacteria that cause it, said Dr. Greg Nelson, a veterinarian with Central Veterinary Associates, in Valley Stream, New York, who was not involved in treating the woman.

“[But] It doesn’t really occur all that often,” Nelson said. “There isn’t a lot of transmission from cats to their owners.”

Cats typically get the bacteria as kittens from fleas, or from other infected cats. When a kitten scratches or bites at the fleas on its skin, the flea droppings can get in their teeth or claws. Cats can then transmit the bacteria if they then bite or scratch a person, or lick an open cut on a person’s skin, Nelson said.

In people with compromised immune systems, including children and the elderly, cat scratch fever can lead to painful and serious complications, such as warty lesions on the skin, as well as lesions in the liver or spleen.

The bacterial infection is usually seen at the location of the cat bite or scratch, but infection can also spread to other sites in the body, said Dr. Lucy Tompkins, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Stanford Medicine and the medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at Stanford Health Care in California, who was not involved in the study.

But in the woman’s case, whether her cats actually caused her infection remains unclear, the researchers said. The woman didn’t remember getting scratched or bitten by her two pet cats, whereas she did remember that a young dog had bitten her leg about two weeks before her symptoms began, Van Ierland-van Leeuwen said.

It’s possible that the woman had Bartonella henselae, or cat scratch disease, Van Ierland-van Leeuwen said. However, DNA testing for Bartonella henselae in a sample of the woman’s duodenum came up negative, the study found. [Tiny & Nasty: Images of Things That Make Us Sick]

The doctors gave her antibiotics for five days, and in four months the woman’s health had returned to normal.

In most cases, cat scratch disease goes away on its own, without the use of antibiotics, Nelson said.

Neither the cats nor the dog were tested for Bartonella henselae. There have been a few reports of dogs carrying Bartonella henselae, but typically cats are the main host, Nelson said.

Tomkins agreed that the cats were not clearly the cause of the woman’s infection. “I would have called it a probable case,” Tompkins said.

Getting cat scratch disease from a pet is uncommon, Nelson said. People should be careful to keep their cats flea-free, and clean any cat bites or scratches with soap and water. A cat that has a tendency to scratch or play roughly should not be near immune-compromised people, he said.

Ahead of tonight’s bonfire night events, a local vet has given a released a warning for pet owners.

A spokesman for Llanelli veterinary practice Haven Vets said “Just under half of all dogs and many cats will react to the sudden loud noises Firework Night brings.

“Pets can show varied stress reactions to firework noise, some will bark and become over-excited while others will completely withdraw and hide themselves away.

“Some may even soil in the house and some may become destructive which can lead to injury, which is why it is very important that if your animal has suffered from firework phobia before, then be sure to visit your vet well before November 5th.”

The practice have offered tips on mitigating the effects of the loud noises. Vet Susanne Ackroyd said: “There are several ways that you can ensure your pet is as comfortable as possible at this time.

“There are many products on the market specifically to help keep your pet calm and feel secure in their environment before the stress of firework season starts. Also, consider the use of products used to promote relaxation and reduce irritability of highly strung or anxious pets.”

Susanne continues: “Do walk your dog before dark to ensure they are well exercised and relieved before the fireworks begin. Cats should be brought inside before dark when possible so they are safe and secure before the noise starts. Try to settle your animal before the fireworks start as if your animal is in safe, familiar surroundings it will help to cope with the noise.”

“Do provide a safe hiding place for your pet that they can retreat to if needed. At noisy times ensure that your animal can hide in their favourite room – under a table or behind a couch work well for dogs and cardboard boxes and igloos work well for cats. Close the curtains and turn up the TV or radio to drown out the bangs.”

Gudrun Ravetz, a practising vet and veterinary consultant for Pet Health Plans from Denplan, commented: “Pet reactions to the fear of fireworks can be very upsetting for owners and the pets themselves. It is very important for owners to understand these behaviours to try and help their pet feel calmer.

“The most important thing is making sure that your pet is safe at home. Your veterinary surgeon will be able to give you advice on how to keep your pets safe and calm at home and how to start working with your pet to try and sensitise them to fireworks to help reduce the fear for next year.”

Public health experts and animal lovers are carefully monitoring the health of a Dallas-area resident who may have had close contact with Nina Pham, the nurse being treated for Ebola virus disease at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

So far, there are no indications that Bentley, Pham’s 1-year-old King Charles spaniel, has been infected with Ebola or become sick as a result. Bentley is now in the care of the the Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center and being quarantined at “an undisclosed location,” according to the DAS Facebook page.

“It was a bit of a challenge, but Bentley, the beloved dog of Ebola patient Nina Pham, is now safe with Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center,” the agency said.

“It was a bit of a challenge, but Bentley, the beloved dog of Ebola patient Nina Pham, is now safe with Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center,” the agency said. (Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center)

Workers watching over Bentley have donned full-body protective suits to make sure they don’t catch the deadly virus from Pham’s pet, if indeed he is infected. But the risk that a person could catch Ebola from a dog is exceedingly low, experts say.

There has not been a single case of a dog or cat spreading the virus to people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, the CDC adds, “there have been no reports of dogs or cats becoming sick with Ebola” – not even in Africa, where the virus was first identified in the 1970s.

That’s not to say that pets aren’t vulnerable to infection – there is scientific evidence that they are. During an Ebola outbreak in the African nation of Gabon in 2001 and 2002, researchers tested the blood of 258 dogs from various parts of the country and detected Ebola antibodies in more than 25% of the animals from villages in the epidemic area. For the sake of comparison, they also tested 102 dogs in France and found similar antibodies in two of them, though they could have been false-positives, according to their report in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

How did the dogs in Gabon get the virus? Probably not through casual contact, the researchers wrote: “We observed that some dogs ate fresh remains of Ebola-virus-infected dead animals brought back to the villages, and that others licked vomit from Ebola virus-infected patients.”

Even so, none of the dogs displayed any symptoms of Ebola virus disease, the researchers noted. What’s more, none of the canine blood samples contained genetic sequences from the virus, and the researchers weren’t able to isolate the virus from the blood samples either, according to the study. Though some of the dogs were surely infected, perhaps the virus didn’t make them sick or caused only a “very mild” infection, the researchers wrote.

If a dog or cat becomes infected with Ebola, it is unclear whether the virus can then spread through the animal’s body, fur or paws, the CDC says. If a pet may have been exposed to the virus, local health officials should consult with a veterinarian to determine “how the pet should be handled,” according to the federal health agency.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Assn. recommends that pets exposed to Ebola be quarantined and tested.

“It is possible that dogs may harbor the virus, particularly in endemic areas where they may roam and have access to infected animal carcasses,” WSAVA says. “However, house pets that may potentially be exposed in developed countries represent a very different scenario.”

The group chided Spanish officials for euthanizing the dog of Ebola patient Teresa Romero Ramos, a nursing assistant who contracted the virus while caring for missionaries who had been sickened by it in West Africa.

The pet, Excalibur, was not tested for the virus, WSAVA said, and it’s not clear that the dog was even infected. Ramos’ husband pleaded for the pet’s life, saying in a video that “they want to kill him for no reason.”

Madrid’s Health Ministry obtained a court order to euthanize Excalibur on the grounds that it was the only way to be absolutely sure the dog wouldn’t spread the virus to others.

If you would like to have your own dog or cat tested for Ebola, you’re out of luck – such tests are not available, according to the CDC. But there’s no cause for worry, the agency says: There is no reason to test a pet that’s never been exposed to an infected person, and in any event the risk of catching Ebola from a pet is “very low.”

EDMOND, Okla., Oct. 12, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — An Edmond veterinarian is emphasizing the need for area pet owners to maintain their pets’ weight at a healthy level. According to Dr. Jennifer Bianchi of White Oaks Veterinary Clinic, pet obesity can cause a host of health problems and discomforts that can drastically reduce an animal’s quality of life, ranging from diabetes to an increased risk of cancer. “Fortunately, there are many things we can do to work with pet owners and recommend the right combination of food, exercise, and other veterinary care as needed to help their pets enjoy the longest and healthiest life possible,” said Dr. Bianchi.

Edmond veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Bianchi notes that more than half of all U.S. dogs and cats qualify as overweight or obese. The accumulation of extra pounds may occur for one or more of many possible reasons, she explains, from a sedentary lifestyle and unwise feeding habits to an undiagnosed health condition. “In most cases, however, obesity stems from too much food or the wrong kinds of foods for a pet’s particular stage of life, coupled with too little activity,” she said. According to Dr. Bianchi, puppies and kittens require more food than adult animals, and a senior pet requires less food than an adult, particularly if joint problems or other age-related conditions have reduced his activity level.

The veterinarian adds that the food itself must contain the correct nutritional balance to support a healthy weight. “Pets who are allowed to consume table scraps are at a higher risk for obesity because of the high levels of fats, sugar, and starch in human foods,” she warns.

Dr. Bianchi states that obesity can create the same disease risks in pets as it does in humans, with the same debilitating or even fatal results. She observes that obesity in animals is associated with higher rates of diabetes, heart and liver problems, high blood pressure, digestive problems, and even certain forms of cancer. Additionally, too much weight can stress the joints, causing premature joint wear, arthritis, and other painful conditions.

Dr. Bianchi recommends prevention as the best medicine for pet obesity. She advises area pet owners to bring their animals in for regularly scheduled wellness visits so the veterinary team can weigh him and determine whether he is carrying too much weight for his age and breed. “If we see possible cause for concern, we can recommend dietary, nutritional and lifestyle changes that can help,” she said, adding severely obese dogs may benefit from an oral medication called Slentrol if all other measures have failed to reduce their weight.